Detective
by Denaliyasha
Summary: Detective Inspector Lestrade has a love/hate acquaintance with Sherlock Holmes.  It's not a relationship, because God forbid Sherlock actually deal with anyone for longer than it takes to piss them off.  That's why John Watson is such a surprise.


Disclaimer: I own my own ideas and words, not the characters or basic premise upon which this is based. They belong to the BBC and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

A/N: So here's D. This is becoming a disconnected alphabet series, but I'm doing something differently so each section is going to be a different story. *Shrug* Hope this doesn't inconvenience anyone. Also, I wanted to thank bkwrm19, who is awesome and lets me bounce ideas off of her. You should all read her fic London A to Z, which is about the German tourists from whom Sherlock steals the book in The Blind Banker. It's short, fun, and very, very in character. Also, bkwrm, sorry about my use of British swear words in this. They just sort of fit.

Also, I want it clear here that at this point, when I say relationship at the end, I don't mean romantic. Lestrade is talking about a basic interpersonal relationship, like friendship. That does not mean that I am anti-Holmes/Watson slash, or that this series will never get there. It's just... not now, okay? This is Lestrade. He doesn't imagine Sherlock's sex life. … Most of the time. But that's another story.

**Detective**

Detective Inspector Lestrade has a love/hate acquaintance with Sherlock Holmes.

It's not a _relationship_, mind you, because Sherlock Holmes does not have _relationships_ with people. He pisses them off, he puts them in jail, but God forbid he actually deal with them for longer than it takes him to do those things.

It is for this reason, this Sherlock-doesn't-do-people reason, that Lestrade is so surprised by John Watson.

It had been unexpected to see someone else in Sherlock's new flat (and hadn't that been bloody difficult to find, since Sherlock hadn't bothered to tell them he'd moved), but he hadn't really been paying much attention at the time. When the man had turned up at the crime scene, looking vaguely lost and not entirely certain what was going on, his slightly crazy first thought had been, "Did Sherlock kidnap someone?" The second had been, "Since when does Sherlock ask for anyone else's opinion voluntarily?" When Watson had complimented Sherlock on his brilliance, Lestrade had given up trying to figure out what was going on and just focused on the fact that for once, Sherlock was explaining the basics of his thought process without Lestrade having to grovel or threaten legal action. All Watson had to do was admit ignorance and Sherlock (with an uncharacteristically brief biting comment about their relative intelligence) had promptly explained things.

Though he is understandably distracted by the case at hand, Lestrade watches with some interest as Watson dutifully follows Sherlock from crime scene to drugs bust to final showdown with a serial killer. He sees concern for Sherlock, genuine shock, and loyalty slightly jarring in its intensity. John Watson is not a stupid man, nor is he lacking in his own credentials; Lestrade had checked into his background, and the man had an impressive service record, with commendations for bravery and discharge papers that read "We very much wish he wouldn't leave," in that heavy, sterile, and utterly non-personal military language.

Lestrade is definitely impressed by John Watson. Lestrade is also not an idiot.

He is perfectly well aware, thank you very much, that it was John Watson who shot the Killer Cabbie (stupid bloody reporters, always have to give people sensational nicknames). It may have taken him longer to get there than it took Sherlock, but he does take comfort in the fact that Sherlock had to actually _see_ Watson in order to figure it out. It was not particularly hard to put together: Sherlock described a military man with nerves of steel and a strong moral sense, then looked at John and admitted to being wrong and in shock.

Sherlock was never wrong. Any time he was not entirely correct, he blamed it on the information provided to him. To be fair, he was usually correct in his blame, but still. Never. Wrong.

He watches the pair of them stop to talk to Mycroft Holmes (who had approached him once and offered him money to spy on Sherlock; Lestrade had threatened to arrest him for trying to bribe the police, which he realizes now was probably not the best idea, given what he has since dug up about the man) and then head off towards a main street, probably headed for a tube station, since he doubted Watson would let Sherlock hail a taxi at the moment. They look like a normal pair of friends, entirely disconnected from the police chaos surrounding them.

Sherlock Holmes does not _do_ relationships, that's for sure. But apparently, John Watson does. And maybe, Lestrade decides, that's enough to change things.


End file.
